Alcohol causes hundred thousand deaths in Europe every year

(MENAFN) Alcohol consumption is responsible for roughly 800,000 deaths each year in Europe, equivalent to one in every eleven fatalities, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The report highlights that Europe has the highest levels of alcohol consumption worldwide, contributing heavily to premature deaths and injuries. Based on 2019 data—the most recent available—around 145,000 injury-related deaths were linked to alcohol, primarily from self-harm, road accidents, and falls.

Alcohol is also a major factor in interpersonal violence, including assaults and domestic abuse, and is particularly harmful to young people, affecting brain development, memory, learning, and decision-making during adolescence and early adulthood. It increases the risk of long-term health issues, such as alcohol use disorders and other mental health problems.

“Alcohol is a toxic substance that not only causes seven types of cancer and other noncommunicable diseases, but also impairs judgment and self-control, slows reaction times, reduces coordination, and promotes risk-taking behavior,” said Carina Ferreira-Borges, WHO/Europe Regional Adviser for Alcohol, Illicit Drugs, and Prison Health. “This is why it is implicated in so many preventable injuries and injury deaths.”

Geographically, Eastern Europe bears the heaviest burden, accounting for about half of all alcohol-attributable injury deaths, compared with less than 20% in Western and Southern Europe.

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